Have you noticed hair thinning on your sideburns? You’d be surprised to know that hair loss is not limited to the hair on your scalp. It can cause thinning, patchy loss, and complete baldness around the beard, eyebrows, facial hair and sideburns. Androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness, is the most common cause, although it is far from the only potential reason for thinning sideburns.
If you’ve noticed thinner or patchy growth in the hair in front of the ears, this is likely due to hair loss. Sideburn thinning and baldness can have a bigger-than-expected impact on your appearance since it changes the way your beard and facial hair connect with the hair on your scalp.
The at KSL Clinic consult with clients with a huge range of hair loss concerns and can recommend the right treatments and therapies to either minimise visible sideburn thinning, replenish lost hair, or slow down hair loss.
Hair Loss and Thinning Around the Sideburns
- Thinning sideburns are not unusual, and they could be associated with pattern hair loss to the scalp or facial hair loss—with some forms of alopecia also associated with decreased growth around the beard and sideburns.
- Causes can vary, but most men see thinning sideburns due to androgenetic alopecia. Sideburns can also thin due to side effects of medications, traction and pressure on the skin, alopecia barbae, also known as beard alopecia and frontal fibrosing alopecia.
- Treatment options will always depend on the underlying reasons for hair loss and thinning, but they can include topical medications, permanent hair transplantation, or follicle-stimulating non-surgical therapies.
Understanding the Most Common Causes of Thinning in Sideburns
The most frequent reason men might find their sideburns becoming thinner with age or see gradually progressive areas of hair loss is androgenetic alopecia or male pattern baldness. [1] This hair loss is hereditary and genetic, and while you can reduce the speed of hair loss, once follicles have shed, they are unlikely to grow back.
Other potential reasons for thinning on your sideburns or hair loss in this area can include:
- Reactions to medications that impede the way follicles grow or enter into growth phases, including medicines prescribed for conditions like high blood pressure, heart issues, gout, arthritis, mental health diagnoses and cancer.
- Traction alopecia, which is caused by tension or strain that pulls and rubs at the follicles and generates damage. For instance, this type of alopecia can be caused by continually wearing tight, restrictive headgear, dreadlocks or certain hairstyles. [2]
- Frontal fibrosing alopecia, which is more common in women and causes loss of hair to the areas around the ears, frontal hairline and eyebrows, most frequently seen in women post-menopause, but also sometimes a condition that affects men. [3]
- Alopecia barbae, or beard alopecia, which is similar to frontal fibrosing alopecia but specifically impacts hair growth around the beard, moustache and sideburns. [4]
Identifying the causes of hair loss may be useful since some forms of alopecia are temporary, and a hair transplant might not be necessary if there is a strong chance that the hair will naturally regrow in time.
Other causes, such as androgenetic alopecia, are more suited to transplants since hair loss tends to be permanent. However, this might depend on the current stage of hair loss, the availability of donor hairs, the health of your current hair and skin, and the action you’d like to take.
Treating Hair Loss or Sideburn Thinning
Dr Matee, our highly experienced Director of Surgical Services, says, ‘There are numerous advanced and innovative ways we treat all kinds of hair loss, but understanding the cause may influence the steps, treatments, or therapies we recommend.
For example, if there is obvious improvement to be made through medications or lifestyle changes, we could suggest this as a first step or use platelet-rich plasma therapy to reactivate dormant follicles before considering a hair transplant.
Our preferred transplant technique is always follicular unit extraction (FUE), which is a minimally invasive and pain-free procedure we complete in one day on a walk-in/walk-out basis – without general anaesthetic, stitches, scarring or any need to stay in the clinic overnight.
Although a sideburn transplant isn’t the only solution or a universally appropriate step, it can be transformative for men who have seen prolonged changes to the health and density of their hair and want to take decisive action to correct the issue permanently.’
Get a cost for your hair transplant
Looking for a consultation regarding the hair transplant cost? Book a free consultation with us today to see what we can do for you.
Using a FUE Facial Hair Transplant to Restore Sideburn Hair Loss
FUE hair transplants are widely regarded as the safest and most precise way to restore sideburns (if other treatments aren’t viable), using your own donor follicles for a seamless and perfectly natural result that is impossible to distinguish, and with no signs that you have had a hair transplant.
KSL Clinic only provides FUE transplantation, and this is beneficial for sideburn hair transplants as well as all other forms of hair restoration because:
- Your surgeon extracts one donor follicle at a time, specifically selected for colour and density, without removing any strips of tissue or leaving scars, which are necessary during an alternative procedure called FUT.
- Those follicles are graded and prepared, then implanted in a predesigned pattern, each one leaving a tiny incision around one mm across, using a microscopic tool called a Micro Punch.
- Recovery periods are minimal, with the incision sites around the sideburn transplant and donor hair areas healing in just two weeks, and with a bespoke finish that matches the shape, contours and density you want your sideburns to have.
While a sideburn transplant isn’t for everybody, this approach is clinically safe and performed by our GMC-registered surgeons at our CQC-regulated clinics. It ensures you can achieve the appearance you aspire to with very little downtime and permanent results.
More information about facial hair transplants and personalised sideburn restoration treatments is available on demand. You can also book your free consultation at your preferred KSL Clinic location to learn more or ask any questions you may have.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Do Thinning Sideburns Mean?
Thinning hair around your sideburns usually simply means you are experiencing one of many types of hair loss. The most typical cause is male pattern hair loss, although we’ve listed above some of the alternative reasons you may have seen thinning or hair loss in this area.
How Long Does it Take to Recover From a Sideburn Hair Transplant?
Recovery times following a sideburn transplant are fairly quick. Clients are advised to invest two weeks in rest and recovery and avoid activities, abrasions, or contaminants that could impede the growth of the newly implanted follicles as they bed in.
We can often recommend medications to assist in speedier healing and recovery from initial redness and inflammation. We also provide full aftercare guidance for the duration until your sideburns are fully restored in a few months’ time.
What Do Thinning Sideburns Mean?
Thinning hair around your sideburns usually simply means you are experiencing one of many types of hair loss. The most typical cause is male pattern hair loss, although we’ve listed above some of the alternative reasons you may have seen thinning or hair loss in this area.
How Long Does it Take to Recover From a Sideburn Hair Transplant?
Recovery times following a sideburn transplant are fairly quick. Clients are advised to invest two weeks in rest and recovery and avoid activities, abrasions, or contaminants that could impede the growth of the newly implanted follicles as they bed in.
We can often recommend medications to assist in speedier healing and recovery from initial redness and inflammation. We also provide full aftercare guidance for the duration until your sideburns are fully restored in a few months’ time.
References and Sources:
- National Library of Medicine: Cause of Androgenetic Alopecia: Crux of the Matter
- National Library of Medicine: Traction Alopecia
- National Library of Medicine: Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia in a Male Presenting With Sideburn Loss
- National Library of Medicine: Beard Alopecia: An Updated and Comprehensive Review of Etiologies, Presentation and Treatment
